But there is still an obvious familiarity between Auburn and its division rival to the west, which is 2-0 after upsetting then-No. 8 Miami and taking care of business against Southeastern Louisiana. Even with the players it hasn’t even gone up against on the field before.

Running back Nick Brossette hasn’t recorded a carry against Auburn since his freshman season in 2015, but defensive coordinator Kevin Steele used to see him on the scout team in practice every day. Graduate transfer quarterback Joe Burrow is new to LSU, but he and Auburn cornerback Jamel Dean were part of the same 2015 recruiting class at Ohio State.

“I’m pretty sure, if he felt like how I felt,” Dean said, “he’ll probably have a chip on his shoulder, and he probably wants to prove to Ohio State why he should’ve been there playing."

Auburn hosted defensive end Breiden Fehoko, a transfer from Texas Tech, on a visit last spring before he ultimately decided to sign with LSU.

Oh, and LSU’s new offensive coordinator, Steve Ensminger, coached at Auburn for six seasons from 2003-08 and held the same role the year before the initial arrival of Gus Malzahn in 2009.

"Every year we play them, you turn on the film and they look the same as they did four years ago when I first got here," H-back Chandler Cox said. "They get new guys but they all still look the same. I don't know how they do that, but they do. Obviously, just a really good team."

Here’s a closer look at the challenges LSU will present Auburn on Saturday:

On offense

Ensminger’s offense is centered around Burrow and Brossette, who are both new to their featured roles this season. Through two games, it ranks 13th in the SEC averaging 32 points per game and 14th averaging 315.5 yards per game.

Burrow has already attempted more passes in two games at LSU than he did in three seasons at Ohio State, where he completed 29 of 39 attempts for 287 yards and two touchdowns over 10 games. He hasn’t been as successful in his attempts with LSU, completing just 21 of 44 throws (47.7 percent) for 291 yards and two scores.

It hasn’t helped that he’s breaking in a group of wide receivers replacing its top three pass-catchers in Chark, Gage and Darrel Williams. Burrow’s leading receiver so far this season is sophomore Justin Jefferson, who has caught six passes for 86 yards. He’s one of just two players on the team who has caught more than two passes — true freshman Ja’Marr Chase (four for 47 yards and a touchdown) is the other.

The passing game has been the best way to move the ball against Auburn’s defense so far, as the secondary has allowed seven passing plays of 20 or more yards.

But even if Burrow doesn’t have the strongest numbers so far, he does bring a veteran presence to the LSU offense, even though he is light on actual playing experience through four years in college. Steele, who knows Burrow’s family, said the quarterback’s biggest strength is how smart he is, which allows him to do a little more checking and audibling at the line of scrimmage than a younger quarterback would.

“Even though he just got there, he’s a more veteran guy, and it looks like to me they’re putting some things in his hands,” Malzahn said. “That’s just kind of a game within a game that an offense and defense goes through quite a bit each Saturday.”

Unlike Burrow, Brossette is a four-year player at LSU. But between Leonard Fournette, Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams, he’s always had a ton a talent ahead of him. This year, the job is his, and so far, the 6-foot, 221-pound senior has carried 41 times for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

That’s good for an average of 6.39 yards per carry, though 92 of his 262 yards have come on two touches. He’s averaging just 4.36 yards on his other 39 carries. Auburn has surrendered just 149 rushing yards on 68 attempts through two games, which is an average of 2.19 yards per carry (10th nationally).

“I don’t question him,” Steele said. “When I was there, he was on the scout team, so I saw him every day. He’s got great vision, he’s got a lot of power, he’s a patient back and he’s got vision to see it. He’s a very good, talented young man.”

The biggest question mark LSU has on offense might be its offensive line, which is re-inserting Saahdiq Charles at left tackle this week and moving backup Austin Deculus over to right tackle to compete for the starting role there with Badara Traore. That group has allowed 10 tackles for loss (46th nationally) and four sacks (73rd) through two games, and now has to face an Auburn defense that is tied for second nationally with nine sacks through two games.

Burrow has been pressured on 40.7 percent of his dropbacks and has completed just 2 of 15 throws under pressure so far this season, per CFB Film Room.

“There will be a lot of things we have to face this week. First of all, we have to fix ourselves," Orgeron said. "We’ll be ready to go. I believe our offensive line is going to have its best game Saturday. I totally believe in what we’re doing.”

On defense

LSU’s strength is on this side of the ball, which should come as no surprise with Dave Aranda running the show. Between Wisconsin (2013-15) and LSU (2016-present), he hasn’t once had a unit rank outside the nation’s top 20 in scoring defense.

This season has been no different so far, as LSU is tied for seventh nationally allowing just 8.5 points per game. Miami scored 14 of its 17 points after that Week 1 showdown had already turned into a blowout, and Southeastern Louisiana didn’t score at all.

LSU does it at all three levels. It is led in the linebacker Devin White, who ranked second in the SEC with 133 tackles last season and runs the show from the middle of Aranda’s defense.

“Devin’s an extremely great football player — probably one of the better ones we’ll see all year,” Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. “When you start talking about chess match, that’s what I love about football. It just comes down to like little details, and when you’re playing a great defense like LSU led by a great player like Devin White, you got to be on top of your A-game. I’m sure I’ll make checks, they’ll make checks and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The pass rush took a hit when K’Lavon Chaisson was lost for the season with a torn ACL, but Fehoko has stood out on the defensive line with three tackles for loss and 1½ sacks. He’s one of the six players who has at least one of the team’s nine sacks this season, which is tied with Auburn for second nationally.

“It's not just one guy. They do it by a group,” Malzahn said. “They'll bring some linebacker pressure. Bringing a little bit more pressure the first couple of games probably than they have in the past. They've got good cover guys in the back end that allow them to do that.”

The focal point of that group is sophomore corner Greedy Williams, who has picked up where he left off after a standout first-team All-SEC freshman season where he tied for the SEC lead with six interceptions and ranked third in the conference with 11 pass breakups. He has one of LSU’s three interceptions so far this season.

He’ll make it tough on an Auburn offense that has just one play of 30 or more yards through two games this season after totaling 41 last year.

“He’s a really good player. Got a lot of respect for him. I think we’ll just have to make sure when we get opportunities, take advantage of it,” Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said.

“But at the end of the day, we’re going to run our offense, and obviously we got a lot of respect for their players. They’ve got really good players and they do a great job coaching them. So, as we tone down the game plan, we’ll just see how that plays out.”